U.S. Amateur Championship

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The U.S. Amateur Championship is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for male amateur golfers. It is organised by the United States Golf Association.

The event was first played in 1895 at Newport Country Club in Rhode Island. There are no age restrictions on entry, but players must have a handicap index of 2.4 or less. It consists of two days of strokeplay, with the leading 64 competitors then playing a knockout competition held at matchplay to decide the champion. All knockout matches are over 18 holes except for the final, which consists of 36 holes, separated into morning and afternoon 18-hole rounds. Nowadays it is usually won by players in their early twenties who are working towards a career as a tournament professional. Before World War II more top-level golfers chose to remain amateur, and the average age of U.S. Open champions was higher.

Many of the leading figures in the history of golf have been U.S. Amateur Champion, including Bobby Jones five times, Jack Nicklaus twice and Tiger Woods three times (all consecutive; the only player to win three in a row). Woods' first win, as an 18-year-old in 1994, made him the youngest winner of the event, breaking the previous record of Nathaniel Crosby (son of Bing). Before the professional game became dominant, the event was regarded as one of the majors. This is no longer the case, but the champion still receives an automatic invitation to play in all of the majors except the PGA Championship, and the runner-up also receives an invitation to play in the U.S. Open.

List of winners

External links

  • Official site (http://www.usamateur.org/) - most of the information is in the archive sections
no:US Amateur Championship
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